I once read that in Southeast Asia there is a variation of the werewolf known as the weretiger in which the transformation is into that of a tiger.

According to this story during the day when in human form if one who is a weretiger looks into a reflecting object such as a mirror or water the reflection will be that of a tiger!

Does anyone, particularly anyone from Southeast Asia have more info about this?

I have never heard of this, it sounds cool though. If I find something on this story I will post the link and let you know.

I've not been able to locate anything pertaining to the weretiger directly, but it's true that in areas where the wolf is not so common, the belief in werewolves is replaced by folklore where men can change themselves in tigers, lions, bears and other fierce animals.

Here are some of the sites I ran across about lycanthropy/therianthropy:
The WEREWeb[/URL]
lycanthrope[/URL]
Werewolf.com[/URL]

Kell

[ May 27, 2003, 06:10 PM: Message edited by: KellKell ]

Recent popularity of werewolves have formed cliques of werewolf groupies.
Add to that the new age spiritualists who claim to be Were Tigers/wolves/marmosets with wings and a unicorn horn all rolled into one. Those sites, Werewolf.com in particular are of little use except as a studying ground for sociologist and in some cases psychologists.
There ARE lycanthropes on those sites but they will be rare. And any sensible information about the condition, the past or related myths is usually drowned out by the babbling of fools.
Sorry to be harsh but I call it like I see it.
That said I've studied this area quite a bit and yes there are myths of Weretigers in Asia, Werebears in North America and even Were Dolphins who lured young women into the river to become one of them in the rainforests of south america. The myths are widespread and no one can say for certain how many shifter breeds there may be.

I've come across that legend somewhere, Ghostdancer, but I can't remember where.
I know there are a lot of similar legends from various ethnic groups. The Alabama Coushatta Indians have a legend about a woman who was a witch, changing into a werewolf. The Acadians of Louisiana have their own version of werewolves, called the Loup Garou, said to haunt the bayous after dark. It is interesting how such varied cultures have common themes in their folklore.

The Loup Garou is french for werewolf. Loup Garou legends go back hundreds of years but mostly showed up during one period when flour thoughout the whole of europe had some fungus or something in it and it has the effect of inducing hallucinations and paranoia. Most of these Loup Garou turned out to be crazy derelicts but they were tortured and burnt just the same.
Some claimed to have desperately wanted revenge on someone so they turned to the devil, the wolfman of the woods or a witch to make them powerful enough to kill their enemies. These stories invariably involve a wolfskin belt, an ointment and prayers to dark powers to make them a wolf. The most feared predator to the small farmers of France at that time. A creature that could take their flocks and starve them or steal away their children at a whim. Or so it was believed.
The ointment was probably a powerful narcotic and the prayers always repeat the word wolf over and over. That with the wolf skin would guide the mans hallucinations in one direction. He would believe he really was a wolf and driven by hate he would descend upon his enemies and tear them apart.....them and anyone else who happened to be out walking at night and in his way.
Even under torture these people would insist that they physically became a wolf but that they could not prove it without more ointment.

According to a program on werewolves on I think THC this fungus grew on wheat or some grain which was used to make bread so it is believed that many people had these experiences from eating this bread.

It was rye flour. Ergot is the fungus that grew on the rye. It did indeed affect much of the population, as rye bread was a staple.

I wonder if ergot wasn't the root cause, but those who wanted to be werewolves would seek out the ointment, etc. as well and attributed their 'transformation' to the ointment and chants/prayers - when in reality it was the ergot. How do we know about this ointment/ritual anyhow? Are we (scientists) just surmising what may have happened in that regard, or is there proof? I don't recall.

Muse, I agree about many of these werewolf sites. There isn't a lot to learn there, but plenty of people going on about how they are lycanthopes/therianthropes.

Kell

Ergot!! Thats the one, thank you. And the Ergot may have increased everyones susceptability to these myths and the funky ointment was the cause of the men going mad and bestial. The chants and prayers served no purpose other than directing their tempory insanity into them believing they were a wolf....rather than thinking they were Moses.

And you'll find I know a great deal about a vast range of subjects. And bugger all about any one specific one. =)